1. What looked like Christmas for MSU fans — Xavier Booker’s first start — somehow turned into a baffling and costly defeat
EAST LANSING – For most of the season, I’ve understood — and largely agreed with — Tom Izzo and Co. slow-playing the use of Xavier Booker. He wasn’t ready. That was clear as day well into January. Beyond obvious in December.
But things had changed. Booker looked more comfortable in recent weeks and, on Feb. 25, MSU’s coaches thought he was ready.
For MSU fans, Sunday was Christmas — either 10 months early or two months late, depending on your perspective. Or perhaps right on time.
Xavier Booker’s first career start Sunday was a gift beyond the expectations of fans who were just hoping the Spartans’ freshman big man would start to see playing time in both halves. Booker starting the game at center certainly ignited Breslin Center. His presence from the jump and for extended minutes also helped the Spartans to a 10-point lead five minutes into the second half.
Then, like a toy that was taken away by your parents for reasons beyond comprehension, Booker didn’t see the court over the game’s final 15 minutes after playing 17 of the first 25. And, to some correlation, MSU lost 60-57 on a last-second 3-pointer by Ohio State’s Dale Bonner over Tyson Walker that ruined the day and put the Spartans’ NCAA tournament prospects in a more precarious position than they ever should have been.
MSU didn’t lose this game only because Mady Sissoko was the choice at center down the stretch. Sissoko played as well as he has in a while — though couldn’t hang on to an offensive rebound late that might have made a difference. The Spartans lost this game because they scored seven points over the final 10-plus minutes and, at that pace, they were playing with fire. They lost this game because Walker and Jaden Akins largely couldn’t buy a bucket.
They lost this game because their offense died, while a freshman who showed he can provide some juice on offense sat the bench. They lost because Ohio State was able to get deeper touches in the post, as their interim coach said, as MSU’s long-armed freshman sat.
A brutal loss. One that almost guarantees the Spartans will be an 8 seed or worse in the NCAA tournament, if they get there. They’ve got some winning still to do to make it.
A game that looked like a potential jolt to MSU’s season — like new hope — instead was anything but.
2. Freshman thoughts — the Xavier Booker’s first start edition
Questions about whether this should have happened earlier are fair, though anyone who saw Booker play in December knows he wasn’t the player then that he is today. Sunday, he looked ready to be an impact player. His occasional gaffes — going for the block instead of boxing out, for example — were made up for by what he provided.
For one, his arms are everywhere. He blocked three shots and changed others and knocked a pass away, too. He caught a ball Jaden Akins lost on the drive, using his long arms to reach and grab it and quickly lay it in. It’s a play MSU’s other big man can’t make. They don’t have that combination of length and hands and quickness.
Booker played two long first-half stints — the first planned (though added to by the lack of a dead-ball break), the second due to foul trouble for Malik Hall and perhaps Carson Cooper. MSU didn’t go back to him in the latter parts of the second half, a sign the coaches still trust Mady Sissoko more. That’s the final frontier for Booker to overcome, I guess.
In all, Booker played 17 minutes, scored seven points on 3-for-6 shooting, including a 3-pointer, and pulled down three rebounds, to go along with the blocks.
Another attribute of Booker: His versatility. He started at center, but when Hall picked up his second foul, he slid over to power forward, as Sissoko checked in.
There were signs this week that this might be coming — when Izzo said he just had to find Xavier…
This article was originally published by a www.lansingstatejournal.com . Read the Original article here. .